Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thoughts on Thoughtful Blogging

I have been considering the manner in which I blog.

Sometimes I plan. Sometimes I do not. I would like to tell you the majority of the time I am organized and methodical but I am not. Life, joyous life distracts me. Gardening distracts, photography distracts, reading distracts, Joe and CC distract. Clovis and Shelley distract. Shelly Puppy is especially attention grabbing these days. Sometimes I throw up a pretty image and write a diddle about it and I am done. Not a lot of thought involved in those posts. The Hold Everything Lightly Series posts are timed, planned and agonized over. I am not into recipes but the few I have posted make me quite anxious and I feel a huge responsibility if you my readers have issues with the recipe. Is that nuts or what ? The three tablescapes I have posted on the patio have been big hits. I suppose I should do more but lack space for dishes so tablescapes may only appear here monthly or bimonthly. Olive Out is a reflection of me. I am kind of wacky, fun, and not terribly organized. I have been accused of being too happy before.

It happened when I was the Director of Nursing at the state prison and had to attend the Wardens meeting which was serious (boring) business and one of the Assistant Wardens told me I was too happy. He then proceeded to have my Jeep searched for drugs. A drug dog walked all inside it. I laughed about it and was sad that the leaders of the prison exhibited no joy in their life while at the prison. Later that Assistant Warden moved to another prison and asked me to organize his medical department.

I thought being a Head Nurse of 2 floors at a top 10 hospital was bad enough...Dir of Nrsg at a Prison..omg!Well, I am like u some planned some not. Sometimes I can not come up with something and sometimes the quicky ones end up to be the favorite posts..where the ones well thought out aren't?Have a good day. Off to work a few extra hours this evening..yuck!

Gosh, none are planned. Just whatever is going on around here gets thrown in. Sometimes I have several in the works and scheduled and then sometimes nothing. Just letting life happen is all that goes on here. Hugs, Marty

I am with you on often not planning my posts; yesterday I wanted a topic and all I came up with was Snow Peas, since I had just planted some seeds. So that is my current post.If you are "accused" of being "too happy", I want to claim you as a friend. That is a wonderful attribute, and my own nickname is Sunshine, so we are on the same page there.

My blogging is just from my heart. I feel like I am writing to my friends. I love taking pictures even though I am a point and shoot kind of person. I don't edit my photos. I don't plan my blogs.......but I will take a picture when I see something and think about blogging about it.

Hi Olive. I love to post photos on my Blog and am always on the look out for a good photo opportunity. But I don't plan. Recently I've been struggling a little but when I do write, I try to pitch it as if I'm writing to friends - which, of course, I am!!! Tell me, how can anyone be "too happy"?! Good for you I say. Who wants to be around miserable people. Hugs to you.

I love this story -- Happy Nurse Olive working at the prison, spreading health and good cheer to all those down 'n' outers! What a wonderful picture that conjures up! (And I'm sure it was far from wonderful at times.) But thanks for the picture.

I love how you blog, Olive. I like how joyous life distracts you. And I like how you are too happy. How can anyone be too happy?I don't plan my posts much. I just like taking pictures of old barns, rural countryside and my flowers. So that's what I blog about. I don't even say much. I just like showing my pictures.Have a joyous day!

I am a habitual planner and have a long list of things I will probably blog about, however, there are many thoughtful days and events that come up that I incert into "the list". Those are usually the most enjoyable.

Oooh I just LOVE happy Olive!... and I love all of your posts, whether you think them out first or spur of the moment... they are all so interesting and fun to look at!... this is YOUR blog and I am happy you do what makes you happy!... I never really think mine out, they just kind of jump out there from my mind when I am ready for them... I cannot imagine a world without laughter... I applied for a job years ago and the interviewers were all sooo serious!... it was for a legal secretary job at a state run center for the elderly, and when they asked me to tell them about a mistake I had made sometime in my life and how I had learned and grown from it, I answered "I don't think I've ever made a mistake"... trying to get them to lighten up... they all frowned at me, jotted down notes (and I don't think they were happy ones!)... I told them that was a joke and they told me to just go take the type test, ... needless to say, I walked out the door and told them I couldn't work in a place like that... elderly people need to laugh and be happy too... I laugh every day, often at myself... and my laugh lines prove it!... Thanks for being "YOU" dear Olive!!!... xoxo Julie Marie

First of all, Olive I love reading your blogs, planned or not. The nice thing for me is meeting the person behind them. The 'Hold Everything Lightly' are wonderful and I look forward to reading each next instalment. I don't plan my posts they just sort of tumble out higgledy piggledy but that's the sort of person I am. I try not to say mean, spiteful things in my blog or in my comments. The way I see it - once the gun has been fired it's nye impossible to retrieve the bullets. Happy is good :0)

I don't plan. Sometimes I take pictures with the idea of posting them on my blog. I usually get an idea and then sit and write it out. I like to take it day by day, depending on what is happening in my life. I like the spontaneity of my method, and yours!

I love your too happy personality! Don't let anyone ever take that away from you! I always look forward to your new posts, you tell it from the heart, no matter what the subject. I admire that!

I do not plan my blog entries...I will go back and re-read them and find mispelled words, wack-a-doodle photos, rambling, etc...but it is a place where we can be comfortable among friends and that is all that matters...I love your posts just the way they are!xo Cindy

Dear Olive - I love your posts just as they are, planning or no planning. Sometimes I see or hear something and think I would like to write about that, so I will probably pop it in my diary to remind me. So far I have never had a time when I have dried up with nothing to say or show, but no doubt that time could happen. If it does, then I have quite a few pieces written that I haven't got round to posting yet.

I get into a mood every now and then and vow to plan out my posts. In January I even bought a pretty calendar to do that on. It has no writing on it at all. So in my mind I want to be an organized blogger with post planned out for the entire month, but it never ends up that way. I think maybe 10% of my posts are pre-planned and those tend to be the crafty ones. I do have a notebook that I keep in my purse so I can jot down ideas when I'm out and about though.

We are a lot alike. Although I am not always happy, I don't really show it when I am sad or angry. And as far as posting, I am like the wind. If I can wind a post around some pictures that reflect my life, I'm good to go. I guess everyone plays the game differently!

Hi Olive,I'm probably more of a thoughtful blogger. Most of my posts seem to be about a project so I have to think about the before, during and after photos. That's probably why I haven't been blogging as much....it does take a lot of time. I love your blog and your happy outlook!! The world needs more of that!Jane

Some of mine are planned and many are not. They are just what is ahppening at the time and I share. Too much planning would make it too much like a job and I want to just enjoy it. Like you enjoy your life! XO, Pinky

I love happy. Why not? We choose our attitude. We are all given circumstances in our lives that we aren't fond of, but our attitude makes all the difference.

My blog is truly eclectic. Sometimes I have deep thoughts I want to convey, then the next post will be about my dog - or a recipe - or something entirely different. I like to map out my week of blogging, trying to get like posts on the same days of the week, but it doesn't always work out that way.

Nope I don't Olive. I usually post by the seat of my pants (kind of how I live my life too) When I started my blog, it was for me and I have tried to stay true to that. It was to be a journal of sorts and if others liked to come by, that was all the better. Most of the time a blog post is inspired by a picture I want to document (because I have all the years of my blog printed to a book)for my family later. I love happy people, who always look on the bright side of every situation, and I bet it pleased you to be known as a happy person at the prison : ) And that's why I love you!

Such an interesting topic! I read all of the entries so far. I am an ad hoc blogger and never plan either. I do find comfort in my few chosen parties though. They give me a sort of "subject" that relievs me of "having" to think too hard on something to post about. But my blog is mostly visual. I almost never know what is going to end up on a post until I do it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I will say that there is a big loving audience out there for tablescapes as you have also found. But you are one of the sterling bloggers out there who is such a thoughtful commentor. You convey a personal warmth that reaches right through the ether and makes my day over and over. Like today, and your wonderful comment about PB! Warms my heart like E.T.!

I have often pondered that myself when I read other blogs, especially big successful ones. As my blog really has no focus, meaning it is not DIY, or food, or design but really about my interests and life it is sometimes hard to write posts or to plan for that matter.

My blog is pura Vida or pure life, so I just blog about things that happen kind of random, but blogging and reading make me think about things I wish to write about. I might someday make it into a book for my family

Olive~ Too happy~ what a wonderful thing to be accused of, to the point of being drug searched! I'm a planner generally, when it comes to blogging but I always get a thrill when I spy something blooming or something that pops up unexpectedly and screams "take my photo"! I often think it would be easier to photo blog only, no words with the pics telling the story. I loved your tables BTW :)

Searched by drug dogs? OMG, too funny. How embarrassed that guy must have been after that stunt. Jeez!I don't do a lot of planning, but when I doabout 90% of my planned posts never get published. It's the off the cuff ones that make it to publication. I'm high energy and unorganized, which makes for leaving lots of things hanging. For every project I write about there's another I've never shown. Dunno why, it just happens. i love the randomness of your blog, sometimes it's the stunning photos I love but more often than not it's the joyful perspective on life you impart through your blog that keeps me coming back for more. it truly is infectious. Don't change a thing!

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About Me

Vintage decor and thrifting is my passion. Tablescapes {while rare here} are fun with vintage china. Gardening brings me peace. There will be flowers( you have been warned). I hope to offer you inspiration and maybe some garden tips along the way. {photos/writing property of Olive Out}

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Even in this present life, there is danger in the very concept of religion. It carries the suggestion that this is one more department of life, an extra department added to the economic, the social, the intellectual, the recreational, and all the rest. ~~ C. S. Lewis

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The last week of September is BANNED book week so I am reading a frequently banned book: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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C.S. Lewis On Prayer

"I pray because the need flows out of me all the time waking and sleeping. It does not change God, it changes me."